2017 Dublin Seminar to Examine Culture of Children's Play in Early New England on June 24

Deerfield, Mass. (April 10, 2017) --- Historic Deerfield will host the 42nd meeting of the Dublin Seminar for New England Folklife on Saturday, June 24, 2017. The one-day conference, titled "Small World: Toys, Dolls, and Games in New England" features nine lectures on the culture of children's play in New England and adjacent areas of New York and Canada during the 17th through the 19th centuries.

The conference opens with talks on the material culture of toys by fashion specialists, archaeologists, and historians who will discuss the making of high-style dolls, the distribution of toys in girls' industrial schools, and toy-making during and after the Civil War. It continues with an examination of English emblematical books for children, printed board games designed for young minds, and the evolution of children's libraries in the larger eighteenth century. The conference concludes with a look at the growth of the outdoor games of baseball and football in the face of "blue laws" and the military occupiers of Revolutionary Boston. Participants are invited to bring items from their collections for display and discussion.

The Seminar is designed for educators, historians, collectors, independent scholars, librarians, preservationists, and museum curators, as well as students and the general public. A selected and edited transcript of this conference will appear as the 2017 Annual Proceedings of the Dublin Seminar for New England Folklife, to be issued about two years after the conference. Past Seminar Proceedings and publications by program speakers will be available at the conference.

The 42nd annual meeting in the Dublin Seminar series, "Small World: Toys, Dolls, and Games in New England" will take place at Historic Deerfield, Deerfield, Massachusetts. Housing is available at group rates at local hotels.

The Dublin Seminar for New England Folklife is a continuing series of conferences, exhibitions, and publications whose purpose is to explore everyday life, work, and culture in New England's past. Founded on the premise that traditional lore and material folk culture are rapidly disappearing in New England, the series focuses attention on emerging areas of folk studies, regional and local history, cultural geography, historical archaeology, and vernacular and antiquarian studies. Conferences are held in June or July of each year with concurrent exhibitions at participating museums and art galleries. Dublin Seminar conferences are sponsored by Historic Deerfield.

About Historic Deerfield, Inc.

Historic Deerfield, Inc., is dedicated to the heritage and preservation of Deerfield, Massachusetts, and the Connecticut River Valley. Its museums and programs provide today's audiences with experiences that create an understanding and appreciation of New England's historic villages and countryside.